Special Eid train for RMG workers

Bangladesh Railway (BR) will operate a special train for five days from Gazipur’s Joydebpur to Panchagarh to assist ready-made garment (RMG) workers' travel for Eid.

The special train will run on the route from April 18 to 20, and then again on April 24 and 25.

The train will stop at Kismat, Thakurgaon, Dinajpur, Parbatipur, Phulbari, Birampur, Joypurhat and Shantahar stations. BR has taken this initiative for the first time for garment workers.

BR's Dhaka Divisional Manager Mohammad Shafiqur Rahman briefed reporters on this yesterday at noon.

The train will leave Joydebpur station at 7:15pm every day and reach Bir Muktijoddha Sirajul Islam Station in Panchagarh at 5:25am the next day. On the way back, the train will leave the Panchagarh station at 6:25am and reach Joydebpur junction at 3:45pm, he said.

Mohammad Shafiqur further said the sale of advance tickets will start on April 7 and tickets will have to be purchased online. A passenger can buy a maximum of four tickets using his national identity (NID) card. The person who buys the tickets using the national identity card must be on the train, he added.

The railway official said the tickets can be purchased from 8:00am every day. For this, the ticket seekers must register online using their NID card in advance.

Bangladesh Railway pre-registration with NID cards or birth certificates has become mandatory for intercity rail travel from March 1. So far, 15 lakh passengers have registered online for Eid tickets, he said. Mohammad Shafiqur said 25 per cent of the passengers will be able to go to their destination by collecting tickets from the stations on the day of the journey.

“Another special train will be run from Dhaka to North Bengal for garment workers on the occasion of Eid. Apart from this, all other trains will run according to the schedule like other days. All preparations and measures have been taken to ensure the safety and security of the passengers,” he said.

BR Dhaka Division Assistant Commercial Officer Kabir Uddin, BR Security Force Commandant Shahid Ullah, BR Assistant Transport Officer Aminul Haque and Traffic Inspector Shahjahan Patwari were present during the press conference among others.